Tag Archives: English surnames genealogy

This month’s British Columbia Genealogical Society’s research tip is:

Learn how names were (and are) pronounced ‘correctly’; say them out loud (or find a native speaker to do that), then use the sound to help you locate indexed variations. (Works with place names too.)

This can be a helpful idea no matter where your family is from. To give you an idea, here’s a list of English surname pronunciations from a little book called Everybody’s Pocket Companion, Fifth Edition, compiled by A Mercer, M.R.S.T. (Page 50, no date, private collection).

Two of these surnames will be familiar to news hounds and mystery watchers, but do you have one of these names in your tree? Continue reading →